Calamity from Within -- A Final
Fantasy VII Fan Fiction : Chapter One -- Dark, Oblong and Rectangular
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Well, here you have it folks! The pilot chapter of Calamity From Within! I know, I know, it took forever. I'm just lazy, what can I say.
Tyamaikryn Gryf (pronounced Tie-meh-kurr-in Gr-iff) is my oldest character, and I've been working with her for the longest. As such, she's quite a bit like me. And I've grown to be quite a bit like her at the same time. She's strong, and for the most part, she's independant, and she's sarcastic to boot. I'm hoping that some of you out there will love her as much as I've come to.
Ty's past has been completely mapped out with the help, love and support of my good friend Kirsten (Earth8000 on here), and I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank her for helping both Ty and I with issues that we've had as of late. You rock, Kurry, and I wouldn't still be here without you. (:
You all can expect to see more of Calamity from Within if I have enough drive to fill in the gaping hole that I left in the storyline when switching from a Windows computer to a Mac. (The Mac works infinitely better, in case you were wondering.) So leave me lots of nice things, and I'll have to get on it. (;
And so now, without any further ado, Calamity from Within; a Final Fantasy VII Fan Fiction, taking place after FFVII: Advent Children. Enjoy!
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Water still pooled in the streets. The people of Midgar, used to having to adapt, were finding better ways of getting around, ways that didn't involve getting their socks soaked through.
"Stupid, lousy flood ..."
Well. For the most part, anyways.
Tymaikryn Gryf was plodding her way through the streets, dragging her feet in the water, shoulders hunched against the sunshine that beat down on the city.
"You'd think it'd just hurry up and evaporate already ..."
She kicked a box floating on the surface of the water, then thought better of it and scooped it up, turning it over in her hands for lack of anything better to do. Hmph. Sealed shut. Wasn't everything these days? She made to toss it over her shoulder, but she found that she couldn't bring herself to waste it. Too many things went to waste recently ... Even the once-again near destruction of Midgar hadn't changed that ...
Absently, Ty glanced around. The only people around were kids; adults were busy rebuilding, or at least trying to. The destruction all around was horrific: stone walls turned into rubble, and most everything else had burnt in the blast from that creature ... She shivered at the thought. Though she'd only seen the creature, the giant winged Dragon that had descended upon the city, from afar, just the thought of it was enough to make her limbs grow cold.
Forcing herself to focus, Ty looked down at the box. The thing was dark and oblong and rectangular and covered in grime ... she paused, and chipped away at the dirt with a nail. There was a symbol, some kind of insignia on the box ... A small chunk of soot fell off, and she felt her lip curl. ShinRa. It figured. Most of the junk floating around these days belonged to them, at least at one point in time.
She reached her appartment a few minutes later, and slipped out of her soaked shoes and socks at the door, shuffling across the carpet to dry her feet. She set the box on her dresser, and flopped onto her bed, facedown. Carefully, she began to seal out the world, willing away everything but the overwhelming urge to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day; she'd wake up, go to work ... and then probably fall back into bed and do the same thing.
She fell into sleep soon afterwards; a deep sleep, without dreams.
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The next morning, Ty's tousled head of dark brown and blond-streaked hair realised it was time to get up, and tried to burrow further under the covers with a groan. Moments later, her alarm clock, all the way across the room on her dresser, protested that move, and the slim twenty-three year old dragged herself from bed to slam her fist down on the device.
The box was on the table exactly where she'd left it ... it also happened to be sitting right next to her alarm clock. Ty didn't realise that her hand was on it instead of her alarm clock until pain shot through her, originating from the palm of her hand, and racing through her blood, to every extremity of her body.
She lay on the floor, the hot ache in her head cancelling out everything else, even the shrill wail of her alarm. It could have been seconds that she was immoble, her brain paralysed, her eyes sightless, her muscles twitching of their own accord. It was her brain that started working first, registering every jump of a muscle, and every jolt of pain that ran through her. She lay for a silent eternity, before she could move, before she could even groan.
Time slowed to a crawl for Ty, as she stared at her ceiling. It was dreadfully plain, she realised sluggishly. There was no texture in the plain white concrete, no water stains, no cracks ... just white expanse, that made her feel as though her eyes were misting over. Closing her eyes did her no better; she could see phantom shapes, images, dancing beneath her lids.
By the time she could drag herself to the shower, Ty could acutely feel every prickle through her muscles. The throbbing in her head was horrific; it blocked out all other noise. She fumbled with the water control, and then clumsily ripped her clothes from her body, before stumbling numbly into the shower.
The scalding hot water ripped into every nerve under her skin. Ty didn't realise that she was crying out until she stopped, chewing her lip bloody as the water pummeled her raw skin. She stood there under the hot spray, forcing her unwilling body to cooperate until her muscles began to relax, and she had control once again.
She shakily turned off the water, and carefully stepped out of the shower onto the tile floor, groaning with every move that she had to make. Her body felt like it had been run over by a truck a few dozen times; everything was sore, stiff, and uncooperative.
She picked up a towel from the counter and carefully wiped the moisture off her mirror, before wrapping the towel around herself. As she did so, she found her eyes drawn to the mirror. It showed her what she had missed before; Geostigma, angry red and painful-looking, spanned from the flat of her palm, all the way to the curve of her shoulder.
Ty's brain went numb. She had been cured of Geostigma just months before by the rains that had flooded Midgar. And it had never been so bad -- before it had looked like a rash, not a burn! Her trembling left hand found it's way to the angry red mark crawling along her right arm. Her skin was just as smooth as it had always been ... but it was oddly numb, and much hotter than it had been before.
And that box ...
Ty turned and fled the bathroom, finding herself, dripping, on her carpet, staring at the box in front of her. Her right hand was reaching towards the box with a slow deliberation that she couldn't seem to override, even though every tiny bit of common sense she posessed was screaming at her that she didn't want to touch that thing again.
This time, when her skin came into contact with the cool metal of the box, nothing happened. Carefully, she lifted the box, holding it cautiously, in case it started a repeat performance of earlier. She raised her left hand and took hold of the box with it as well; still nothing.
Before she lost her nerve, she turned on her heel and hustled the box to the bathroom. Moments later she was holding it under the flow of the sink tap, watching the water turn black with grime. She scrubbed away at the plain black surface, and the ShinRa logo, until it shone, and her muscles ached once more. There was nothing about the box even the slightest bit out of the ordinary ... Ty's right hand found the lid of the box and applied pressure. The lid came away easily in her hands.
Ty trembled as she tipped the box, so that the contents would slide into her waiting right hand.
Mud. The box was filled with mud. Ty heaved a heavy sigh of relief, and began to wash the mud away ... when she felt something cold, smooth and round against her palm. The breath caught in her throat, as she pushed away the muck ... and found a piece of pitch black materia, cradled in her slender hand. She reached out to touch it with her left hand ... and it dissapeared, travelling through her hand, into her arm.
A strangled gasp caught in her throat. The materia was in her arm. She had no idea where it had come from, or what it was ... and it was stuck in her arm.
A knock sounded on the door.
Ty wiped her trembling, mud-covered hands on a towel, wrapped herself in her bathrobe, and shuffled over to the door. It took her a moment to negotiate how to use the doorknob with her right hand, but she managed.
"Ty!"
"Angel!" Ty forced a smile onto her face, pushing some lank, still-wet hair away from her face before tucking her exposed right hand away in what she hoped was a natural motion. Angel had been her friend for years: they had both worked in the same bar (and still did), both been hit on by the same disgusting, drunken guys (Ty hesitated to call them men), and had lived in the same appartment building. Angel had gotten married, Ty wasn't even dating, and Angel had moved into a house with her husband, and had a daughter ... Ty still had the same apartment and lived alone.
Angel's daughter peeked around her mother's leg so that she could see into Ty's tiny doorway. She shared her mother's curly blond hair, fair complexion and freckles, but she had her father's mischivious blue eyes. Seeing Ty standing there, her face split in a grin. "Ty! You're not dressed!"
"You didn't forget about watching Jianna, did you?"
Ty shook her head. "Oh, no. I just got a late start this morning -- my alarm wasn't working." At least ... it probably wasn't working now that she'd let it run for ... however long it was that she was unconscious and showering. "I just have to dry my hair and throw something on and I'm all ready to go."
Jianna's eyes widened. "Go where?"
Angel winked down at her. "It's a surprise. But trust me, you'll like it." She looked back at Ty and smiled. "You're sure it's no problem? Keith and I will be gone until Sunday night ..."
"Don't worry about it." Ty smiled; she could use a break from her life. Showing Jianna around would be a much needed vacation.
Angel kneeled so that she was on her daughter's level. "I want you to be good for Ty, alright? This is her weekend -- we're both going back to work on Monday. So let her rest some, alright? Now, give me a hug. And promise not to miss me too much."
She left soon afterwards, and Ty closed the door behind her young visitor. Jianna bounded over to her usual spot of fascination: the closet beside Ty's desk. Ty grabbed a towel from the bathroom, carefully wrapped the black box in it, and tucked it into her laundry hamper while the younger girl cooed over Ty's wardrobe.
"So," Ty called, running fingers through her hair to untangle it. "How old are you now, Jianna?"
"Seven last week."
"Wow, you're growing up on me!"
"Ty, what's this?"
Ty poked her head out of the bathroom. "What's wh--" The question died on her lips. The old uniform was familiar; the navy coloured hat, cargo pants, tank top and jacket. She knew the clothes off by heart; every stitch along their length, every crease, every heavy thread in the logo embriodered into the jacket, just above the heart.
Jianna was running her fingers along the embriodery. "This is the ShinRa logo, Ty."
"That's because that was a ShinRa uniform."
"You worked for ShinRa!"
Ty let herself give a small smile. "I was a SOLDIER."
The seven year old gaped at her. "SOLDIER! You mean ... you knew Cloud Strife?"
Ty chuckled and retreated back into the bathroom. "I knew a lot who could fight better than him."
Jianna, clutching the ShinRa uniform to her chest, appeared in the bathroom doorway. "So you wore this every day?"
"Well ... no. There were other uniforms. That was the one we wore when we were either there for decoration, or when we wanted to show people that ShinRa was watching. Likewise for our burgandy uniform -- it blended in just a little better than the blue. Otherwise, we had a black and grey uniform, for work that was a little more subtle, but you could still see that we were all working for the same guy. For the undercover work, we wore normal clothes. And when we were off shift, of course, we dressed normally." She paused, catching a look at Jianna in the mirror. "... What's that look for?"
"... Put it on?"
"Oh no. It's been years since I've worn that thing. I probably wouldn't even fit into it anymore."
"Please?"
Ty did her best to give a stern glare to the wide, pleading eyes in front of her ... but failed miserably. She heaved a sigh and held out her hand. "Alright, alright. But I'm only wearing it for a minute."
A grin and the bathroom door was shut.
"How do I let myself get talked into these things ...?" Ty murmered to herself as she carefully slipped the tank top over her head. To her shock, it fit perfectly -- maybe even better in the chest, where it had always been loose. The pants were next -- were they a little tighter in the thighs than they had been? --, followed by the jacket. She neglected to put on the hat; her hair was still wet.
She emerged from the bathroom somewhat timidly. "Well .. here it is."
Jianna had been sitting on the bed. She jumped off when Ty had appeared. "You look so beautiful!"
Ty grinned. "I was one of the lucky ones who didn't look completely horrible in my uniform."
"Are you kidding! It's no wonder you weren't getting marriage proposals left and right!"
"Well, it was never quite that good."
Jianna's eyes widened. "You were asked out on a lot of dates?"
"The worst was your father."
"No!"
"Yes." Ty walked over to the dresser and started rooting around for a long-sleeved shirt. "The man couldn't take no for an answer. I guess that how he got your mother to marry him."
"Ty, you're horrible!"
"I know." Ty scooped out a shirt and jeans, and headed back to the bathroom. "We'll get going just as soon as I change."
"Get going where?"
"You didn't expect us to stay around Midgar the whole time, did you?"
"Er ... well ... yes."
Ty chuckled and shut the door so that she could change in peace. The Geostigma on her arm seemed as though it had faded slightly -- that was a good sign. Maybe it would just fade, and this whole strange cooincidence would fade as well ...
But there was still that Materia lodged in her arm ...
Ty shook her head and exited the bathroom. She was being silly. She'd take the Materia out later, no big deal. She'd just been stupid before, holding it like that. In the meantime, she'd just have to put up with it.
Jianna was pacing excitedly outside the door. As soon as she saw Ty, she launched into a familiar tyrade of 'Pleeeeeeaaaaaase tell me where we're going! Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase!' Ty liked the girl and all ... but this was one of the reasons she'd decided that she really didn't want kids. She tossed her uniform in her drawer and bumped it closed with a hip. ushered Jianna out the door, locked it behind them, and then guided her towards the outer door to the building.
"Come on, Ty! Please! I'm going to die of curiosity! You need to te-- Whoa, Ty, is that yours!"
Ty grinned. "It is now."
The sleek, dark body of the motercycle was reflected in Jianna's huge eyes as she advanced towards it. "It's ... it's beautiful! Where did you get it!"
"When you've worked the kind of jobs I have, you learn how to salvage things." Ty walked over and placed a careful hand on the vehicle's seat. "It took a lot of polishing to get it looking this good."
"But ... where did you find it!"
"It was abandoned. Left on the side of the road. So I just ... helped myself."
Jianna gaped at her. "You know how to fix a motercycle!"
"Yep. Here, now, wear my helmet; your mother will kill me if something happens to you."
It didn't take any more persuading to get Jianna into the helmet and onto the motercycle. Ty straddled the machine in front of the girl, and leant forwards, taking hold of the controls.
She felt Jianna's arms wrap around her waist. "Shouldn't you be wearing a helmet, Ty?"
Ty grinned and revved the engine. "I only have one."